While 3D printing was originally invented by commercial interests, consumer-oriented or desktop 3D printers are another story, literally. Their origins can really be traced back to the RepRap Project, founded in the UK by university professor Adrian Bowyer. RepRap was intended to produces self-replicating printers (the "rep" part of the name) that anyone with tech "maker" skills could build and use to make new objects, create repair parts for existing household appliances, and do rapid (the "rap" part) prototyping of new designs.
A confession: very early on in my involvement with 3D printing, I ordered some parts for one of the Reprap machines. Sadly I was not able to acquire all the parts and was intimidated by the build process, so I shelved it. Later I acquired several kit-built printers, then bought a pre-built Prusa i3 Mark 4 ("MK4"), eventually tearing that apart to make into a Prusa Core One. I’ve written about some of these printers elsewhere.
The printers I use and recommend are designed and built in the EU, manufactured (using a lot of 3D printed parts) and sold by Prusa3d.com. If you didn’t know it, note that Josef Prusa got his start by building and contributing to the RepRap project. The first "Prusa" was one of a dozen or so models of printers in the Reprap project family! Josef then went on to commercialize his later versions, and the rest is history. Part of the early history is covered in this intersting interview where Josef talks to Adrian (contains text and a video).
Affiliate notice: Some links may lead to affiliate earnings. Prusa ones will also get you a nice bonus if you create an account and log in before buying the printer directly from them!